Apparatus for washing and scrubbing coal gas



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

I P. WECK. .AFPARMUS FOR WASHING AND SGRUBBING GOAL GAS. No. 321,870.Paten-tedJuly- 7; 1885.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

F. WEGE.

APPARATUS FOB WASHING AND SGRUBBING GOALv GAS. v No. 321,870. PatentedJuly 7, 188.5.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet' 3.

I'. WECK.

APPARATUS POR WASHING AND SGRUBBING GOAL GAS.

Patented July 7, 1885.

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FRIEDRICH WEOK, OF LILLESHALL, COUNTY OF SALOP, ENGLAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 321,870, dated July 7,1885.

Application filed August 14.1884. (No model.) Patented in EnglandJanuary 26, 1884, No. 2,229, and iu Germany April 13, 1884,

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH WEGK, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Lilleshall, in the county of Salop, England, haveinvented certain new and useful lmprovements in Machinery or Apparatusfor NVashing and Scrubbing Coal-Gas, applicable also for other purposes,of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in the construction of machineryor apparatus chiefly applicable for extracting the soluble impuritiesfrom coal-gas by the process known as washing and scrubbing,7 theimprovements having mainly for object to provide an apparatus in whichthe spaces between the moistened surfaces shall not become blocked up bythe accumulation of solid matter, as now generally takes place with theexisting forms of scrubbcrs.

My improvements have also for their object to allow of a much smallerquantity of water or ammoniacal liquor being employed in washers than isusually the case, thereby enabling the user to increase or diminish thestrength of his liquor in a very short time by regulating the supply ofwater.

In carrying out my invention I employ a number of chambers, through eachof which the gas is allowed to 'pass successively in a horizontaldirection. In each chamber, with their axes parallel to the iiow of thegas, is placed a number of rollers, some near the top and some near thebottom, and over these rollers one or more endless bands are vplaced insuch a manner that, following the course of the band from, say, where itpasses over the first of the top rollers, counting from one side of thechamber, it passes downward and under the irst of the bottom rollers,thence upward and over the second top roller and downward again underthe second bottom roller,

and so on till, having passed over the last of the top rollers, itpasses downward and under another roller, placed a little lower than theaforenamed bottom rollers; then it follows a horizontal direction toanother roller, placed similarly to the last-named one, but at theopposite side of the chamber, and thence passes 5o upward to the pointstarted from. The horizontal portion of the endless band canin a similarmanner be carried over the top rollers instead of under the bottomrollers, it' more desirable. The lower part of the chamber is chargedwith the purifying liquid to the required height above the lowerrollers. One or more of the top rollers is or are made to revolve so asto cause the aforenamed endless band or bands to travel in the directionof its length, thus causing all its or their parts successively to beimmersed in the liquid at the bottom of the chamber and to be broughtout of this liquid again with a film of the liquid covering the entiresurface and exposed to the gas within the chamber. Brushes are employed,as hereinafter described, to effectually prevent the accumulation ofdeposits on th bands.

ln order to enable my invention to be fully understood, l will describethe same by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure lis a longitudinal vertical section of two compartments orchambers of an apparatus constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2is a vertical cross-section of same; and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan, thesection being taken immediately above the upper rollers and below theroof of the chamber; Fig. 2^, a detail in part crossesection showingScrapers instead of brushes; Fig. 3, a part sectional plan of the lowerchamber; Fig. 11, a crossseetion of brush; Fig. 5, a detail showing partof an endless textile band, Fig. 6, aY chain or band composed of woodenrods. Fig. 7 illustrates the pliable metallic or other bands; Fig. 8,part plan of aseraper; Fig. 9, a crosssection; and Fig. 10, a plan(about half full size) of a band having projections on its surfaces;Fig. 11,combs used with this band; and Figs. 12 and 18, enlarged viewsof part of belt and Scrapers, Fig. 12 showing a flat band,and Fig. 13 aseetion'and a plan of cylindrical bands and their scrapers.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, a is the endless band, which, in this arrangement, isshown in one 9 width; b b b2, Snc., are the upper rollers,which actuateor giv'e motion to the band. These rollers are shown in the upperchamber, O, of the apparatus to be driven by means of spurgearing, inwhich case one of the rollers b is driven by a shaft, f, carrying aspur-wheel, f2, which gears into another spur-wheel, f, fixed upon theroller b. rlhe two adjacent rollers b b have their spur-wlleels runningloosely upon them, gearing with the spur-wheel f, and of courserevolving in the opposite direction. .The next two rollers, bl, havespurwlieels fast to them and geared into the abovenamed loose runningwheels, and will be turned again in the opposite direction to them-thatis, in the same direction as the first-named roller, b. In this mannerthe rollers I) b2 b2 b b4, and so on, will be driven, and theintermediate rollers, b b b b3, and so on, will be at liberty to run inany direction which the friction between them and the endless band maycause them to take.

In the lower chamber, D, of the apparatus a different driving mechanismis shown, as clearly seen in the part-sectional plan at Fig. 3^. ()n therollers are fixed cranks c c c of equal stroke, and which are so formedas to pass one another in revolving, and all these cranks are driven bya coupling-rod, d, in which the cranks-pins run, and which communicatesmotion to the cranks. rIhe coupling-rod (l is actuated by a crank, c, ofthe same stroke as the cranks c, and fixed to the driving-shaftf. Thedriving-shaft can in each case be protruded or extended through theelsing of the chambers and through the stuffing-box in the usual manner.In the last described arrangement all the upper rollers are shown asbeing driven.

It will be obvious that I can vary this driving mechanism by attachingchain-wheels on the spindles of the rollers and employing endless chainsto engage with their teeth. One of the rollers being then extended tothe outside of the chamber and driven by any suitable ineans, it will,through the medium of the chain and chain-wheels, impart its motion tothe other rollers.

E shows the inlet pipe of the gas, the ow of which is indicated by thedotted arrows. A A is the liquor-outlet. Z shows the level of the liquorin the bottom of the chambers or compartments. g f/ g are the lowerrollers, which run in bearings in the bars h h. These bars are free tomove up and down, but are prevented from moving sidewise, (with theexception of a little play to insure their easy working,) and by theirweight, as well as that of therollers, they keep the bands a stretched,and cause the friction between the band and the top rollers which isnecessary to cause the band to travel.

To keep the bars hh horizontal, I employ some simple guidingarrangement, such as is indicated in Fig. 2by the dotted lines t' t',which consists of a number of links arranged in the manner shown. Oneof the links may be produced, as shown by k, and carry a weight at theend to assist in keepingltheendless band c stretched. The endless bands,which in this way become the means of exposing large surfaces of wateror ammoniacal liquor to the contact of the gas in the chamber, are madeof textile material, perforated or not, as shown in the detached View atFig. 5, or of pliable metallic or other bands, as shown in the detachedView at Fig. 7, or chains of suitable construction, or of wooden rods ofsuitable size and shape, as shown in the detached views at Fig. 6, laidside by side and joined together by wire or fibrous material w in such amanner that the band thus formed shall be pliable in the direction ofits length; or the band may be made of any other suitable material. Therepeated bending, first one way and then the other way, and friction ofthis band in going over the rollers will, to a great extent, prevent theaccumulation of naphthaline and other insoluble deposits; but for themore complete removal of such deposit-s I propose to introduce into thechambers two brushes, p p, (see Fig. 2,) which I make of steel wire orother suitable material, according to the material of which the band ais made, and circular or partly circular in cross-section. The brushes pp are fixed in suitable positions in the chamber, as shown, so that theband a as it travels onward shall pass between them. Tile spindies ofthe brushes are extended to the outside of the chamber, as seen at m m,Fig. 3, so as to allow of their being rotated on their axes so as tobring a new portion of the brushes to bear on the band as onepart getsworn away. Fig. 4 shows a cross-section ot' a brush of this constructiondrawn about full size.

Sometimes whenI use bands havinganearl y homogeneous surface, such asbands of textile fabric, I employ scrapers instead of brushes, as shownat a a, in the part cross-section at Fig. 2^. These scrapers n a are sofixed to the bearing-bars h h as tolcaveanarrow space, through which theendless bands are caused to pass without touching them, but preventing atoo thick depositthercon, thereby scraping off any deposit which mayaccumulate thereon. rlhe height of these scrapers toward the middle ofthe band is increased, and they are made sloping off toward the edges ofthe band, and their ends extend a little beyond it to cause the matterscraped off to be deposited clear of the band a.

Fig. 5 is a view of part of one of the rollers with a piece of fabricforming part of the endless band c placed over the same.

Fig. 6 is a similar view to Fig. 5, but showing a portion of a bandcomposed of a number of small parallel rods connected together withsuitable flexible material.

Fig. 7 is aview showing a portion of a roller having a number of bandsof circular section, such as thin ropes or cords. When employing bandsof this kind the rollers would be grooved, so as to keep all the cordsin their places.

Fig. 8 shows a part plan of a scraper suitable for use with these kindsof bands in order to remove deposit therefrom.

Fig. 9 is a cross-section, and Fig. 10 a plan drawn about half fullsize,and showing a band IIO formed with projections on both its surfaces,such projections forming brushes, whereby the extent of wetted surfacebrought into contact with the gas is increased. At each side of the bandis a narrow margin without such projections, and this margin runs uponthe rollers. The parts of the rollers where the projections of the bandoccur are made very small, as at y, so as not to interfere with suchprojections. In the case of using this band, combs z, as shown at Fig.11, would be employed in place of the brushes to remove deposittherefrom.

'Ihe operation of the apparatus is as follows: Clean water or otherpurifyingliquid is introduced into the chamber at one end of theapparatus and allowed to fill its lower part up to the required height,as shown; thence the water is allowed to run into the next chamber,filling this chamber up to the required height, and then making its wayto the third chamber, and so on, until at-the last chamber it is drawnaway through the outlet A A. The gas to be purified enters the chamberat E at the other end of the apparatus` and passes through it betweenthe wetted surfaces of the endless band a; thence into the next chamber,and so on, until it arrives at the last chamber, which it should leavenearly free from its soluble impurities. By increasing the number ofchambers and the area of the surfaces of the endless bands a, thisscrubbing and washing action can be carried to the required degree.

I have described my invention as applied to the washing and scrubbing ofcoal-gas; but it will be evident that it may be. used for otherpurposes,such as for evaporating liquids. For example, if a weak salinesolution be allowed to run into the upper chamb`er,and warn1,dry air beallowed to take the place of gas, the apparatus will be equallyeffective in concentrating such saline solution by taking up moisturefrom the exposed surfaces.

In the drawings,the chambers are shown as being placed one above theother. They may, however, as will be well understood, be placedhorizontally, one behind another, in which arrangement thedriving-rollers of the bands would pass through all the chambers fromend `to end.

Cylindrical brushes have been used in gaswashing machines, and I make noclaim to them.

Having thus described the nature of my said invention, and the manner ofperforming the same, what I claim is- I. In an apparatus for washing andscrubbing gas, in combination with an upper and a lower series of gearedrollers, a pliable endless band arranged to pass up and down over suchrollers, as set forth, and serving to bring extended wetted surfaces incontact with the gas or other fluid, and also serving as absorbents forsolid particles, substantially in the manner and for the purposesdescribed.

2. In an apparatus for washing and scrubbing coal-gas, in combinationwith pliable bands, serving as absorbents, and to carry off soliddeposits, combs or Scrapers, serving to clean such deposits from thebands, and to prevent such deposits from attaining too great athickness, as hereinbefore described.

3. The improved washer-scrubber for coalgas, consisting of thecombination of the following elements, namely: chamber G, upper rollersbb b2, &c., endless bands, shaft f, spurwheelsf* f3, lower chamber, D,its rollers and endless band, cranks, coupling-rod d, shaft j", andshafts g, these parts being arranged and operating substantially asdescribed, and the chambers having suitable gas inlet and outlet, and awater-outlet. v

4. In an apparatus for washing and scrubbing gas, endless bands composedof flexible or pliable material, the bands passing over a series ofupper rollers and a series of lower rollers, as set forth, and carryinga system of parallel rods or projecting material forabsorbing andcarrying off solid deposits, all as shown and described. v

it. when.

Witnesses:

CHARLEs EvANs, EPHRAIM HnMUs.

